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Informal Fallacies
Fallacy
Fallacies are defects in an argument.
Fallacies cause an argument to be invalid, unsound, or
weak.
Formal Fallacies
Informal Fallacies
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 1
INFORMAL FALLACIES
Informal Fallacies
Fallacy: Burden of Proof
A very common example of this would be: “God exists because there is
no proof that He does not.”
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 2
INFORMAL FALLACIES
2. Therefore X is true.
The basic idea is that a claim is accepted as being true simply because
most people are favorably inclined towards the claim. More formally, the
fact that most people have favorable emotions associated with the claim
is substituted in place of actual evidence for the claim. A person falls
prey to this fallacy if he accepts a claim as being true simply because
most other people approve of the claim.
For example, it might be prudent to not fail the son of your department
chairperson because you fear he will make life tough for you. However,
this does not provide evidence for the claim that the son deserves to pass
the class.
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 3
INFORMAL FALLACIES
must accept that 1+1=46, after all I'm dying..." While you may pity me
because I am dying, it would hardly make my claim true.
The fallacy is committed when not enough A's are observed to warrant
the conclusion. If enough A's are observed then the reasoning is not
fallacious.
For example, if a bucket contains blue, red, green and orange marbles,
then a sample of three marbles cannot possible be representative of the
whole population of marbles. As the sample size of marbles increases the
more likely it becomes that marbles of each color will be selected in
proprtion to their numbers in the whole population. The same holds true
for things others than marbles, such as people and their political views.
Also known as: “Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc, False Cause, Questionable
Cause, Confusing Coincidental Relationships with Causes”
1. A occurs before B.
2. Therefore A is the cause of B.
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 4
INFORMAL FALLACIES
The Post Hoc fallacy derives its name from the Latin phrase "Post hoc,
ergo propter hoc." This has been traditionally interpreted as "After this,
therefore because of this." This fallacy is committed when it is concluded
that one event causes another simply because the proposed cause
occurred before the proposed effect. More formally, the fallacy involves
concluding that A causes or caused B because A occurs before B and
there is not sufficient evidence to actually warrant such a claim.
1. X has happened.
2. X departs from what is expected to occur on average or over the
long term.
3. Therefore, X will come to an end soon.
There are two common ways this fallacy is committed. In both cases a
person is assuming that some result must be "due" simply because what
has previously happened departs from what would be expected on
average or over the long term.
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 5
INFORMAL FALLACIES
In cases in which the two options are, in fact, the only two options, this
line of reasoning is not fallacious. For example:
Begging the Question is a fallacy in which the premises include the claim
that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assume that the
conclusion is true. This sort of "reasoning" typically has the following
form.
The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event
must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the
inevitability of the event in question. In most cases, there are a series of
steps or gradations between one event and the one in question and no
reason is given as to why the intervening steps or gradations will simply
be bypassed. This "argument" has the following form:
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 6
INFORMAL FALLACIES
Fallacy: Ad Hominem
Description of Ad Hominem
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 7
INFORMAL FALLACIES
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the
character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases)
have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the
quality of the argument being made).
Occam’s razor
Occam's (or Ockham's) razor is a principle attributed to the 14th
century logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham.
Ockham was the village in the English county of Surrey where he
was born.
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 8
INFORMAL FALLACIES
rule: "We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such
as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances."
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 9
INFORMAL FALLACIES
References:
The Nizkor Project: Fallacies (http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/);
University of California, Riverside: Department of Mathematics. “What is Occam’s
Razor?” (http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam.html)
Fallacies. (http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/fallacies/)
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Philosophy of Man with Logic 10